Wild Beast

When non-Russian people try to imagine a „typical“ Russian person, they often think of a raw, unfriendly maybe even wild person – a stereotype which was reinforced through the years of nearly absolute isolation of the Russian people from the western world during the cold war. On the wrapping papers a picture of a painting from the famous Russian painter Iwan Iwanowitsch Schischkin is printed. It shows bears – the traditional heraldic animal of Russia – in a forest. Every child in Russia knows this painting, probably even the young, Russian girl who is smiling at you. In this triangular relationship between the girl, the picture and the letters „Wild Beast“ every part fits together except the smiling girl and the threatening words above her head. This discrepancy reveals the stereotype as a myth.